On the Longhorns: 2 big plays hard for defense to forget

Updated 7:56 pm, Wednesday, September 5, 2012

The Texas defense generally kept Wyoming's Brett Smith (16) under wraps, but the Longhorns were annoyed that Smith was able to complete two long TD passes.

The Texas defense generally kept Wyoming's Brett Smith (16) under wraps, but the Longhorns were annoyed that Smith was able to complete two long TD passes.

Photo: Tom Reel

On the Longhorns: 2 big plays hard for defense to forget

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AUSTIN - There was no way to prove Carrington Byndom definitely knew the answer. But nearly all of the evidence suggested he did.

His teammates say Byndom could be the proudest, fiercest competitor Texas has. They say he's the kind of guy who obsesses over every mistake and lets the subtlest perceived slight drive him. And even if he didn't remember every slip-up, his bosses - defensive backs coach Duane Akina and defensive coordinator Manny Diaz - are the sort of detail-oriented sticklers who'd remind him.

Yet when Byndom was asked how many times the Texas secondary had been burned, in games or in practice, the way it was torched by Wyoming for big plays in the Longhorns' season opener, he pleaded ignorance.

Fine, but how about Byndom personally? Surely he had to know if he'd given up an 82-yard touchdown pass before, right?

"I couldn't tell you," he repeated.

The most plausible explanation for Byndom's lack of recall is that what happened to him and the UT defensive backfield Saturday was largely unprecedented. Wyoming quarterback Brett Smith not only completed two long touchdown passes, he found holes in a unit that was billed all offseason as impenetrable.

And even though the defense was excellent for the vast majority of its 58 plays during a 37-17 victory, it was the few lapses in focus that haunted the Longhorns afterward.

"And the thing they have to understand is that's what it's always going to come down to," Diaz said. "You can't say we were good except for the two big plays. If that's the case, you're not good."

So as they prepare for New Mexico this week, the No. 17 Longhorns are making no claims of greatness. They'd heard hype of their expected excellence for months, and as much as they tried to downplay it, safety Kenny Vaccaro said after the opener they "needed to get (their) heads out of the magazine."

Last year, UT didn't give up a touchdown pass of 20 yards or more until its 12th game. Saturday, it took only 12 minutes.

"It was embarrassing the way we started," Vaccaro said. "We're supposed to be a dominant defense. We've got to get those things corrected."

The bright side for the Longhorns is Smith and the Cowboys didn't expose any glaring flaws. On the 82-yard touchdown pass to Robert Herron, Byndom and Adrian Phillips were both in position to make a tackle and bounced off each other instead of wrapping up.

Herron's second scoring catch, a 22-yarder, was a busted coverage blamed on a lack of communication. The seniors UT lost from last year's defense - safety Blake Gideon, linebackers Keenan Robinson and Emmanuel Acho, and tackle Kheeston Randall - all played in the middle of the field.

Vaccaro and Diaz said the second touchdown was just a matter of new people not talking like they should have.

"It wasn't advanced calculus," Diaz said.

But just because the Longhorns have an explanation doesn't mean they see it as an excuse.

"You can't be a championship defense and do that," Diaz said. "We will not have big plays on our film."